Santo Stefano de Pinea[a] or more commonly Santo Stefano del Cacco is a church in Rome dedicated to Saint Stephen, located at Via di Santo Stefano del Cacco 26.
Name
The name "del Cacco" may refer to the Roman deityCacus, or more likely to a statue of the dog-headed (baboon, actually) ancient Egyptian godThoth[1] (from the temple of the ancient Egyptian deities Isis and Serapis, the Iseum Campense, built in 43 BC, on whose ruins the church was originally built and twelve columns from which were re-used in the church's nave), misunderstood as a monkey or "Macaco" (later corrupted to Cacco).[2]
History
Its construction date is uncertain, though it is assumed to have been in the reign of Pope Hadrian I (772–795). It was definitely in existence at the time of Pope Paschal I (817-824), who added an apsidal mosaic (lost in the 1607 rebuild) of himself.[3]
Under Paschal II (1099–1118) the painters Gregorius and Petrolinus were employed to work on the church's apsidal decoration. A new bell-tower (not visible from the street) was built in 1160, and still survives as part of the nearby monastery.[4]
In 1940, the church was threatened with demolition by the expansion of the central police-station in the neighbouring former monastery of Santa Marta, though this was averted.
Architecture
Paolo Marucelli (1594–1649) designed the church's travertine portal, flanked by pilasters and surmounted by a triangular pediment, and the plate above it reads: D. STEPH. PROT. CONG. MONAC. / SILVESTRINORVM ("Dedicated to St. Stephen the Protomartyr, the Congregation of the Silvestrine Monks"). On the sides of the portal were once located the two basalt lions, coming from the "Temple of Isis", and subsequently placed by Michelangelo at the base of the Cordonata.[7]
The façade's second order includes a window crowned with a segmented pediment and flanking pilasters, and right at the top is a triangular pediment with a small window,[7] a rare feature in Roman churches.
Restorations and renovations occurred in 1607 (gutting the apse), c.1640 (giving the church its current baroque appearance,[3] with a simple 2 storey façade, probably by Antonio Canziani).
^Vannugli, Antonio (Maggio 1997). ”Santo Stefano del Cacco”. Roma Sacra: guida alle chiese della città eterna (Roma: Cosmofilm) (9): pp. 44–50. ISSN 1126-6546